Keswick & Claire
by Peachy-Author
Summary: The title sums it up! It's the story of how Keswick and my OC, Claire, met and fell in love! Chapter story! COMPLETE!
1. Keswick & Claire Meet

(A/N: Here's the first chapter of a love story about Keswick and my OC, Claire! I hope you like it!)

It was fall in the city of Petropolis. The weather got cool, and the leaves were changing colors and falling off the trees. But we don't have much time to enjoy the fall scene. We have to get to T.U.F.F., because that's where this story takes place. Now let's go!

At T.U.F.F., all the agents were busy, but that's not surprising. So let's go to the lab, where Keswick is. And in the lab, we find Keswick labeling his inventions (he finally decided to do that). He was so busy, he didn't even notice when the Chief showed up at the entrance.

"Keswick!" the Chief said, startling Keswick.

"Yes?" Keswick asked when he recovered, looking towards the entrance.

"I'm assigning you a partner." the Chief said.

"But Chief, I don't n-n-need a partner. I'm getting along f-f-fine without one." Keswick said.

"Too late. You're getting a partner, and that's final." the Chief said.

"So who gets to be my partner?" Keswick asked.

"Hold on." said the Chief. He exited the lab for a moment and yelled to somebody, "Get in there!" Then he re-entered the lab, and someone else followed him in.

The someone was a female of Keswick's species (a Keswick, according to Keswick in "Pup Daddy"). She wore a white lab coat over a hot pink blouse, blue jeans, and plain, black shoes. On her right hand, she wore a mood ring (which was red now, meaning 'nervous'), and she also wore glasses that looked like Keswick's. Anyway, she was short (she's as tall as Keswick), thin, and her fur was cream-colored (just like Keswick's fur). Keswick turned pale under his fur. He was slowly getting over his fear of women, but having a girl for a partner didn't help his fear go away.

"Keswick, say hello to your partner. Her name is Claire." the Chief said. Keswick screamed and jumped down the incinerator, shouting, "THOUGHT THIS WAS THE LAUNDRY CHUTE!"

"Is he gonna be okay?" Claire asked the Chief.

"You get used to it." the Chief told her.

A few minutes later, Keswick came back to the lab, having recovered from the incinerator. When he saw Claire, he turned pale again and said, "And going down..." But before he could faint, Claire hurried to his side and caught him.

"Are you alright?" Claire asked him.

"I've been b-b-better..." Keswick replied.

"Keswick, you and your partner can now get to work." the Chief said. Then he exited the lab and went back to his office.

Once they were alone, Claire said, "So, what do we do?" Keswick, wishing that this whole 'partner' business was a bad dream, said, "I was l-l-labeling my stuff."

"Oh, okay. I'll help ya." Claire said.

"All right. I'll point out where each l-l-label goes, and you put it there, got it?" Keswick asked. Claire smiled and gave him the thumbs-up sign.

After they'd been working together for several minutes, Claire's mood ring turned cerulean-blue (which meant 'relaxed'). Keswick saw it, and he said, "Wow! What kind of r-r-ring is that?!"

"I see you've noticed my mood ring. It changes color with my mood." Claire said, looking at her now-blue ring.

"The ring was red a m-m-minute ago. Now it's blue." Keswick said.

"Actually, it's a shade of blue that means 'relaxed'. Any darker, and it would mean I'm feeling 'lovable'." Claire said.

"Oh." said Keswick. Then he realized that they weren't doing any work, so he said, "We should probably get back to w-w-work."

"Sounds like a plan." Claire replied, and they got back to labeling the inventions.

Well, there's the first chapter of the story. Hope it's good so far! Please review, but NO flaming!


	2. Home Again

(A/N: Okay, here's the 2nd chapter. It's a little quickie that takes place every other chapter.)

Claire's first day at T.U.F.F. was a pretty good one. She became fast friends with Dudley, Bruce, Kitty, and Katrina. She wanted to be friends with Keswick, but he didn't seem too interested. Oh well, at the end of the day, Claire hopped onto her hot pink motorcycle (that she built herself) and made her way home.

Claire finally parked her motorcycle in the garage of a big mansion. She hopped off the motorcycle and entered the house. She walked to the living room, where her parents were, and said, "I'm ba-ack!"

"So you are! How was your day?" Claire's mom asked.

"It was great! I'm partners with the current genius inventor at T.U.F.F. (who happens to be of our species, mind you), and I made friends with some of the agents who work there." Claire said.

"Sounds like you really did have a good day." said Claire's dad.

"I did." Claire said, but she was still troubled by the fact that her partner wasn't interested in being friends with her, mainly because she didn't have many friends while growing up. You see, because Claire was from a rich family (of non-snobs), people wanted to be friends with her because she was rich.

Well, Claire didn't tell anyone at T.U.F.F. about her being from a rich family, because she wanted friends who liked her for who she was. But she really wanted to be friends with her partner, since she'd be with him most of the time.

_Meanwhile, with Keswick_...

Keswick was at home, thinking about what had happened that day.

"What a day! I get a partner, and I end up being a-a-afraid of her because I'm not completely over my fear of girls! Oh well, I should try and get over it, since she's going to be my p-p-partner for who knows how long." Keswick groaned. He decided that maybe tomorrow, he could try again.

"I'll try it again tomorrow, but I hope she doesn't think b-b-bad of me." Keswick said to himself. He was more than willing to try and completely get over his fear of girls.

Okay, I know this was short, but I did say it was a quickie chapter. Anyway, stay tuned for Chapter 3, and please review! No flaming!


	3. Becoming Friends

(A/N: Here's Chapter 3 of the story! Let's see if Keswick can get over his fear!)

It was morning in the city of Petropolis. Since there isn't much going on right now, we can always go to T.U.F.F. and check on Keswick and his new partner, Claire. Because it sounds like a good idea, that's exactly what we're gonna do, so let's go!

Keswick and Claire are in the lab, working on some new invention together. They seemed to be getting along just fine. In fact, Keswick seemed less afraid of Claire. He didn't jump down the incinerator when she showed up for work, greeting him with a friendly "Hello." So he made a little progress.

Claire noticed that Keswick was nervous around her, but she figured that in time, his nervousness would go away. She also found that she really liked working with Keswick. To her, he was sweet, fun, smart, and she also thought he was kinda cute. Claire never really knew a guy quite like Keswick, and she wondered if he liked her as much as she liked him.

Keswick looked over at Claire, thinking that maybe she wasn't all that bad, even though she's a girl, and he's afraid of girls. But she was of his species, and there weren't many characters of his species.

"I never thought I'd see another f-f-female of my species." Keswick said to himself, as the only girls he knew of that were of his species were his mom and sister.

Claire happened to see Keswick looking at her, and she was surprised. When Keswick realized that he got caught, he quickly went back to work, obviously embarrassed that Claire caught him.

"Wow, Keswick was looking at me. I know he wasn't checking me out, 'cause I don't think he's _that_ interested in me... or is he? Well, I'll just have to wait and see." Claire said to herself, wondering if Keswick was hoping they could be more than just friends... if they ever became friends.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Keswick said, "Claire, I'm sorry for st-st-staring. I didn't mean to!"

Claire smiled and said, "It's okay, Keswick. I forgive you." Keswick heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Thanks, Claire."

"Friends forgive each other, don't they?" Claire asked.

"Friends? Did you say 'friends'?" Keswick asked incredulously.

Claire realized that she had referred to herself and Keswick as friends, and they weren't friends yet.

"Aren't we friends?" Claire asked, looking a little nervous.

Keswick thought about it, and he realized that he wasn't really afraid of Claire, and he did want to be friends with her. He smiled and said, "Yes. We are." Claire smiled back.

By the end of the day, they were friends. At the end of the day, Keswick walked Claire to her motorcycle, and before she hopped on, Claire gave Keswick a quick hug and said, "I'm glad we're friends now, Keswick. I'll see you tomorrow." Then she hopped on her motorcycle and went home. As Keswick watched Claire leave, he realized that he was no longer afraid of her (or any other women), and she became his friend.

Wow, Keswick got over his fear, _and_ became friends with his partner! Stay tuned for a quickie chapter, and please review! No flaming!


	4. At Day's End

(A/N: So here's Chapter 4. It's short, but I hope it's okay...)

When Claire was approaching the mansion where she and her parents lived, she noticed that her parents were out in the front yard, probably waiting for her.

After she parked her motorcycle in the garage, she hopped off and walked to the front yard to see her parents.

"How was work?" asked Claire's mom.

"It got better! My partner, Keswick, is now my friend!" Claire said.

"That's good news!" said Claire's dad.

"You bet it is! Keswick is a really sweet and smart guy!" Claire said.

"And he's lucky to have you for a friend." said Claire's mom.

"Thanks." said Claire. Still, she couldn't help but wonder why Keswick had been looking at her. But she decided not to worry about that now.

Claire followed her parents inside the mansion.

_Meanwhile, with Keswick_...

Keswick got home, thinking about what had happened that day. Not only was he unafraid of Claire, he was friends with her. Today had been a good day.

"She's really something. Who knows where our f-f-friendship will take us?" Keswick said to himself. He knew that if they got closer, they could be more than just friends. They could be boyfriend and girlfriend.

"But that's not going to happen until l-l-later. Claire probably isn't r-r-ready for that yet, and we don't know each other very well. I can wait." Keswick said, referring to the thought of being in a relationship with his partner.

Sorry this chapter was so short. But I promise that the next chapter will be longer, so stay tuned, and please review! No flaming!


	5. If I Fell In Love With You

(A/N: Here's Chapter 5! Now let's see what's gonna happen!)

It's another day in the city of Petropolis, and at least 3 weeks since Claire started working at T.U.F.F. The villains were causing trouble not so long ago, but the T.U.F.F. agents put a stop to that by throwing the villains into Petropolis Prison. Since the agents went back to T.U.F.F. after making the bad guys suffer, let's go to T.U.F.F.!

We arrive at T.U.F.F. to find Dudley, Kitty, Bruce, and Katrina in the break room with Keswick and Claire. They're all having a friendly conversation now, and it's nice to see that they're getting along.

However, Keswick wasn't really saying much, because he was too busy gazing at his partner, and he was thinking, "_She's so lovely, sweet, c-c-caring, and smart. She's one-in-a-million_!" But when he realized what he'd been thinking, he was shocked!

"Wait a sec! Did I just think that? About a _g-g-girl_?! But then again, Claire's not just _any_ girl! She's my p-p-partner, which makes her special! Oh man, I think I'm in love with her! But I _can_'_t_ be in l-l-love with her! We're just f-f-friends, and nothing more!" Keswick reminded himself. How did he fall in love with her so early in their friendship?

Keswick soon realized that falling in love with her was pretty easy, since they spent a lot of time together, and they got to know each other pretty well in the process (except they didn't talk about their fears, so Claire doesn't know what Keswick's afraid of!). Now that he thought about it, he realized that there was no denying it. He was in love with Claire. Okay, so he finally admit it to himself, but telling Claire how he felt wouldn't be so easy...

Claire glanced at her mood ring, and upon seeing it, she was really surprised! For the longest time, it had been cerulean-blue, and now it was purple!

"Oh my!" she said, and that caught the attention of her friends.

"Claire, what's wrong?" Kitty asked.

"My mood ring! Look!" Claire said, showing them the mood ring.

"It's purple. Why are you making a big deal about that?" Dudley asked.

"Guys, my mood ring has _never_ been this color before!" Claire exclaimed.

"Never?" Katrina asked.

"Never!" Claire replied.

"Do you know how you're feeling when your ring is purple?" Bruce asked.

"Let me check the mood chart..." Claire said. She pulled the mood chart out of her pocket and looked at it. According to the chart, when the ring was purple, it meant that Claire was feeling romantic.

"That can't be right! How can I be feeling romantic?!" Claire exclaimed, forgetting that Dudley, Kitty, Bruce, Katrina, and Keswick were in the room, hearing this.

"Say what?!" Keswick asked, caught off-guard.

"I said, when the ring is purple, it means that I'm feeling romantic! But I _can_'_t_ be feeling that way!" Claire said, still forgetting that she wasn't alone in the room.

"Who knows? Love works in mysterious w-w-ways." Keswick reminded her.

"Probably..." Claire muttered. Then she realized that she went and blabbed the whole thing to her friends. Blushing, Claire said, "Oh man! This is so embarrassing!"

"Aw, Claire! Don't feel too b-b-bad!" Keswick told her as he slipped an arm around her shoulders, much to Dudley, Kitty, Bruce, and Katrina's surprise.

"But I have every right to feel this way! I told you that my ring never turned purple before, and when my ring is purple, it means I'm feeling romantic, and now you've figured it out!" Claire said, knowing that her love for him wouldn't stay a secret for long. Keswick thought about what she said, and when he put 2 & 2 together... He said, "You _l-l-love_ me?!"

"Yes. But I didn't mean to go and blurt it out! Now I've ruined our friendship!" Claire moaned, feeling like an idiot.

"No, you haven't ruined our f-f-friendship." Keswick told her.

"What do you mean?" Claire asked.

"I l-l-love you, too!" Keswick told her. Dudley, Kitty, Bruce, and Katrina gasped in shock! They couldn't believe that Keswick had fallen in love with his partner!

"You do?" Claire asked, as a dreamy expression came over her face. Keswick nodded.

"I can't believe that we're already in love, for we haven't been friends for long!" Claire told him.

"I told you that love works in mysterious w-w-ways." Keswick told her as he gave her a hug.

"Yeah. You were right. I'm lucky to have a wonderful guy like you in my life!" Claire said, returning the hug.

"What a sweetheart!" Keswick said to himself, feeling like the luckiest guy alive.

Wow! Those crazy kids fell in love! Looks like the story just got interesting! Stay tuned for Chapter 6, and please review! No flaming!


	6. Good Day

(A/N: And here's Chapter 6! Here we go!)

When Claire got home from work that day, she literally waltzed into the mansion, and this didn't go unnoticed by her parents.

"How was work?" Claire's father asked when he saw Claire enter the house.

"_Bright are the stars that shine.  
Dark is the sky.  
I know this love of mine  
Will never die_." Claire sang in response to her father's question. (A/N: She sang a verse from "And I Love Her" by the Beatles.)

"What kind of response is that?" Claire's dad whispered to his wife.

"It's possible that Claire fell in love today." Claire's mom whispered back.

"There's only one way to find out." Claire's dad said.

"Claire, did you have a good day at work?" Claire's mom asked her happy daughter.

"You know it!" Claire replied, eyes bright behind her glasses.

"What happened?" Claire's dad asked.

"I'm in love..." Claire dreamily replied.

"You are?" asked Claire's dad.

"With who?" Claire's mom asked.

"My partner, Keswick. And he loves me back!" Claire replied, obviously very happy.

"How did those kids fall in love so fast? Claire hasn't been at T.U.F.F. very long." Claire's dad said to his wife.

"She's been working there for 3 weeks, but I have no idea how they fell in love so quickly." Claire's mom said.

"I knew it when my mood ring turned purple. Today was the first time it turned that color, and it means romantic." Claire said, catching her parents' attention. They were rather surprised that Claire was relying on her mood ring to let her know how she was feeling, but she was their daughter, and their only child, so they let it go.

_With Keswick_...

Keswick couldn't believe how so much had changed in so little time. He got a female partner, which caused him to try and really get over his fear of girls. So then he got over his fear of girls and became friends with his partner. And today, he and his partner were boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Claire has changed my life in several w-w-ways, and I love her all the more for it. She's very special to me." Keswick said to himself with a sigh. He really did love Claire, and he was glad that she loved him back. Plus, she did make it easier for him to confess his love for her. Yeah, she was special to him, and he wouldn't change a thing about her.

Awwww! Those kids really do love each other! But the story takes a surprising twist in the next chapter! Stay tuned, and please review! No flaming!


	7. A Relationship In Trouble!

(A/N: And here's Chapter 7! Remember, this is where the story takes a twist! Here we go...)

It's been a week since Keswick and Claire became boyfriend and girlfriend. Since I just brought them up, I think we should go check up on those crazy kids. Let's go to T.U.F.F.!

At T.U.F.F., we find Keswick and Claire in the lab, working on some invention together. But then it was time for their break, so they stopped working and walked hand-in-hand to the break room. When they got to the break room, Dudley, Kitty, Bruce, and Katrina were there, talking to each other. Then they noticed Keswick and Claire.

"What's up?" Dudley asked them.

"Not much. It's just time for our break." said Claire.

"Oh, okay. Hey, it looks like you two are getting along pretty well." Dudley said, not noticing that Keswick and Claire were holding hands.

"Of course we're g-g-getting along well. We're in love, remember?" Keswick said.

"We remember!" said Kitty, Bruce, and Katrina.

"That was a good day." said Claire, her mood ring turning purple with passion.

"Yeah, but I still don't know how Keswick fell in love with you." Dudley told her.

"What are you getting at?" Claire asked, rather suspiciously.

"I don't know how Keswick fell in love with you when it's obvious that he's-" Dudley began, but he was cut off by Bruce clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Not another word!" Bruce told Dudley in a stern voice, but Dudley got Bruce's hand off his mouth and said, "Keswick is afraid of girls!"

"DUDLEY, YOU IDIOT!" Kitty, Bruce, Katrina, and Keswick shouted in unison.

"WHAT?!" Claire asked, shocked.

"Don't worry, Claire. He's not afraid of girls anymore." Katrina said.

"_Anymore_?! He's been afraid of them before?" Claire asked.

"He still is!" Dudley said.

"No, I'm not! I got over my fear when Claire became my p-p-partner!" Keswick said.

"He's right, Dudley. Besides, Keswick wouldn't have fallen for Claire if he was afraid of her." Kitty said.

Claire was silent, thinking about how Keswick jumped down the incinerator after he was introduced to her. Apparently, Keswick had been afraid of her.

"How _could_ he?" Claire asked herself. Even though Keswick wasn't afraid of her anymore (not to mention other girls), she didn't think their relationship would last.

"Claire, are you all r-r-right?" Keswick asked his partner, noticing her troubled expression. Claire shook her head in response, refusing to make eye contact. Anyway, since break time was over, Keswick walked Claire back to the lab, where they got back to work.

However, one thing was different when they started working again, and that was the awkward silence. Keswick and Claire would usually have polite conversations as they worked, but now, Claire was being really quiet.

Uh-oh! Looks like Claire isn't too thrilled that her true love was afraid of women! I hope this doesn't send their relationship down the drain! Stay tuned for the next chapter, and please review!


	8. Sad Day

(A/N: Now it's time for Chapter 8! And here we go...)

When Claire got home from work, her parents were happy to see her, as usual.

"How was your day?" Claire's mom asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it!" Claire said, doing a good job of holding back the tears that threatened to fall. It was the first thing she'd said ever since Dudley blabbed that Keswick was afraid of girls.

Her parents immediately got concerned, knowing that whatever had Claire in that mood must've been really bad. But what was it? They watched as Claire made her way upstairs.

Once she was upstairs, Claire walked to her bedroom. When she was there, she closed the door, set her glasses on the bedside table, flopped onto her bed, and began to cry brokenheartedly into her pillow.

A few minutes later, Claire heard somebody knocking on her bedroom door.

"Go away!" Claire yelled, though her voice was kinda muffled by her pillow.

"Claire, are you okay?" her mother's voice asked from the other side of the door.

"No! And I probably won't be for the rest of my life!" Claire yelled, and her mom heard that clearly, due to the fact that Claire didn't have her face buried in the pillow when she said it.

Sensing that her daughter was in no mood to talk about anything, Claire's mom made her way back downstairs and to the living room, where her husband sat.

"Did she tell you what's wrong?" Claire's dad asked.

"No. Whatever happened really has her upset, because she said she probably won't be okay for the rest of her life." Claire's mom responded.

"I wish she'd tell us what's bothering her. We can't help her is we don't know what the problem is." Claire's dad pointed out.

"She'll probably tell us later tonight." said Claire's mom. They could only hope...

_Meanwhile_...

Keswick got home, feeling miserable. Just when things were going so well, Dudley opened his yap about Keswick's old fear, and Keswick realized that Claire didn't say anything after that. Maybe she thought that because he used to be afraid of girls, their relationship wouldn't last very long.

He considered calling her up and telling her (her home and cell phone numbers were on the contact list on his cell phone), but he was afraid that she wouldn't listen to him or even talk to him.

"I'll just tell her at work tomorrow. I hope she'll be willing to l-l-listen." Keswick said. Hopefully, they could get this worked out.

Can they? Will they? Only one way to find out! Stay tuned for Chapter 9, and please review! No flaming!


	9. Getcha Back

(A/N: And here's Chapter 9! We can only hope that they resolve the problem and keep their relationship intact! Okay, here goes...)

It was a new day in the city of Petropolis. Since it's morning, the T.U.F.F. agents are probably at work now, and that means that Keswick and Claire must be at work, too. Oh, we'd better see if those kids are at work, and if they are, I hope they're working things out! We'd better get over there!

At T.U.F.F., Keswick is in the lab, working on yet another invention. However, he's unhappy as he works on it, due to the fact that he's worried about Claire, who hasn't shown up for work yet.

"How do I tell her that I'm no l-l-longer afraid of women? She was the woman who got me to conquer my f-f-fear. But how do I get her to realize that?" Keswick asked himself, wishing that what had happened was just a bad dream. If it had been a bad dream, Keswick would've been okay with that, because he could wake up. Unfortunately, it was a living nightmare.

At that moment, the door to the lab opened, and Claire walked in. She looked okay, except for the fact that her eyes were sad, and she was still heartbroken.

Keswick saw her, and he tried to remember what he wanted to tell her.

"Claire, there's something I have to t-t-tell you, as it's really..." Keswick began, but his voice trailed off when he caught sight of her mood ring. Instead of cerulean-blue or royal purple, it was **jet**-**black**! Seeing it, Keswick said, "Your ring is black! What does that c-c-color mean?"

Claire looked at her mood ring, and she said, "Black means 'stressed', and believe you me, that's _exactly_ how I'm feeling right now!"

"This means you don't wanna hear what I have to t-t-tell you, right?" Keswick asked, looking sad, although he was happy that she was talking again.

"The color of my ring pretty much answers that question!" Claire snapped.

"Okay, I'll l-l-leave you alone." Keswick moaned, trying not to cry, as the only girl he'd ever love was mad at him.

"Good!" Claire replied, deciding to see if any of the inventions needed some fixing.

Later, when it was break time, Keswick slowly made his way to the break room (Claire decided to work through her break). On his way, he passed by the cubicle where Kitty and Katrina worked, and Katrina spotted the sullen genius.

"Kitty, look." Katrina said, trying to get Kitty to see Keswick. When Kitty saw him, it upset her to see him looking so sad.

"Keswick..." Kitty called, and Keswick looked in Kitty's direction. Kitty gestured for him to come over, so he did.

"What's the matter? Didn't you work things out with Claire?" Katrina asked.

"What's the point when she's in no mood to t-t-talk?" Keswick asked, looking at the floor.

"Is she giving you the silent treatment?" Kitty asked.

"She did that yesterday, but today, she actually spoke. However, she s-s-said that she's not in the mood to talk." Keswick replied, close to tears.

"That's not good. If she doesn't want to talk, the problem will never get solved." Katrina said. "

I don't think she even... c-c-cares. She's... mad at me. I never should have... f-f-fallen in love with her!" Keswick said, right before he burst into tears.

"Aww! There, there, Keswick." Kitty said, pulling Keswick close in a comforting hug.

"Don't you get it?! She hates me! I'll n-n-never be able to let her know how special she is... or _was_... to me!" Keswick sobbed.

"Keswick, you know that you're not to blame for this mess. Dudley is." Katrina said.

"Yeah, he is. And he's got something he wants to say to you." Bruce said as he walked over with Dudley.

"Sorry, Keswick. I didn't realize that you were over your fear of girls when you told Claire you loved her." Dudley said. Keswick accepted Dudley's apology, but he was still sad, for it would take more than a simple apology to set things right.

"I'm going back to w-w-work." Keswick said, and he slowly made his way back to the lab, still crying.

A minute later, Claire walked out of the lab, having decided to take her break while she still could. While she was on her way to the break room, she heard somebody calling for her. She looked and saw that Kitty called for her, and was motioning for her to come over.

"Can I help you?" Claire asked as she approached Kitty and Katrina.

"Claire, why aren't you trying to work things out with Keswick?" Katrina asked.

"What's the point of being in a relationship with a guy who was afraid of girls?" Claire retorted.

"Claire, Keswick wasn't entirely afraid of girls when he met you. He was actually trying to get over his fear of them before you started working here." Kitty said.

"But when I was introduced to him, he jumped down the incinerator." Claire replied, her mood ring turning orange (meaning 'unsettled') as she remembered.

"However, he only did it that one time, right?" Katrina asked. Claire nodded.

"It's possible that when he learned that you were going to be his partner, he was willing to really get over his fear." Kitty said.

"So I helped him get over his fear?" Claire asked.

"I'd like to think so." Katrina replied.

"Do you think you're ready to be in a relationship with him again?" Kitty asked.

"I never broke up with him. I was mad, but I never planned on breaking up with him." Claire said.

"Tell him." Katrina said.

Claire walked back to the lab and saw Keswick looking sad as he worked on some invention. She had to get his attention and work this out with him.

"Keswick..." Claire said. Keswick looked at Claire, and he was surprised to see her.

"You rang?" he asked.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for giving you the silent treatment the other day, and for being so mean to you earlier. Can you ever forgive me?" Claire asked.

"Of course I'll f-f-forgive you! I love you! And apart from being a lovely, sweet, c-c-caring, and smart girl, you're the first real love I've ever had. Plus, you're the only girl I'll ever love!" Keswick told her, meaning every word.

"You really mean it?" Claire asked, her mood ring turning dark blue (meaning 'lovable').

"Every word." Keswick replied.

"Ooh, you're so sweet, fun, smart, and cute! I love you so much!" Claire told him as she hugged him tightly.

"_She thinks I'm cute_..." Keswick thought, blushing.

By now, Dudley, Kitty, Bruce, and Katrina were peeking in the lab, and it made them happy to see Keswick and Claire holding each other.

"Looks like they've worked it out." Kitty whispered.

"How do you know?" Dudley asked.

"They're holding each other close." Bruce said.

"If they kiss, then we'll know that everything is okay." Katrina said.

Sure enough, Keswick and Claire were moving closer to each other... closer... closer... And before they knew it, the space between them vanished. They were kissing each other, and it wasn't just any kiss. It was the kiss of true love.

Now the others were satisfied, so they quietly went back to their cubicles and got to work.

When Keswick and Claire finally broke apart, they glanced at each other, knowing that their love for each other was true, and it always would be. Their love would last, forever and always.

But we still have one more chapter to go, so stay tuned, and please review! No flaming!


	10. Thinking About The Day

(A/N: Okay, here it is! Please enjoy Chapter 10!)

At the end of the day, Keswick walked Claire to her motorcycle, and the young couple shared a quick kiss (and Claire's ring turned purple again) before Claire hopped on and made her way home.

Later, after Claire parked her motorcycle in the garage, she waltzed into the mansion. Upon seeing Claire, her parents wondered if their daughter was covering up her bad mood, or if she really was happy.

"Claire, how was work?" Claire's mom asked.

"A lot better!" Claire replied, looking happier than ever.

"That's good news. Last we heard, you said you probably wouldn't be okay for the rest of your life." Claire's dad said.

"Sorry, guys. Yesterday was a really frustrating day, and you know how I am on those days." Claire said, not about to tell her parents that her boyfriend used to be afraid of girls.

"We know." said Claire's mom.

"Just try to think before you speak." Claire's dad said.

"I'll try." said Claire. Then she waltzed upstairs to her bedroom, humming "So This Is Love" from Disney's "Cinderella".

"I guess her boyfriend must have helped her feel better." Claire's mom said as she watched Claire waltz upstairs.

"What gave you that idea?" Claire's dad asked his wife.

"Why else would she be humming "So This Is Love"?" Claire's mom asked.

"You have a point." Claire's dad realized.

Later, Claire was out on her balcony, watching the sunset and thinking about Keswick. She was happy that they were able to work things out and remain a couple. And if they stayed together for a while longer, perhaps they would spend the rest of their lives together.

However, Claire knew that it was still too early in their relationship to think about that. She decided that it'd be best to wait a while.

_Meanwhile, with Keswick_...

Keswick was home, thinking about Claire. He was happy that they were together again, because he loved her more than ever after today.

"I love Claire so m-m-much. I'd do anything for her." Keswick said to himself, feeling lucky to have a girl like Claire in his life. He also knew that he'd give anything to spend the rest of his life with her.

But he knew better than to rush love, especially after what happened yesterday. Well, he'd know when the time was right.

The End

Well, that's the end of the story. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review, but NO flaming!


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